1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated circuit package.
2. Description of Related Art
Integrated circuits (Its) are typically housed within a package that is soldered to a printed circuit board. The IC package can be soldered to the printed circuit board by a plurality of solder balls. Such a package is commonly referred to as a ball grid array (BGA). BGA packages can be used to house large integrated circuit devices such as microprocessors. Microprocessors generate a relatively large amount of heat and typically require a significant number of input/output (I/O) pins. The heat increases the junction temperatures, which may affect the performance of the integrated circuit. It is therefore desirable to have a thermally efficient package structure to remove the heat from the IC. The high I/O requirements of a microprocessor typically increase the routing space and overall size of the package and the printed circuit board assembly. It is therefore desirable to provide a BGA package that is both compact and thermally efficient.
Microprocessors operate at relatively high speeds, wherein noise can be introduced to the signals traveling between the integrated circuit and the printed circuit board. The microprocessor may also require multiple voltage levels. It would be desirable to provide a compact, thermally efficient BGA package that reduces electrical noise and allows multiple voltage levels to be supplied to the integrated circuit.